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PCTR Big Basin Trail Runs

I had a fantastic time at PCTR’s Big Basin Redwoods Trail Runs. Big Basin is one of my favorite parks so I was looking forward to this event. The weather was toasty and humid with temps at higher elevations starting at over 80 degrees at dawn only to get warmer as the sun rose. In fact, temps soared well into the 90’s by midday.

I ran the 15k (9.7 miles), which covers the classic Berry Creek Falls loop, coming in at 1:11:35. The terrain is technical and the hill climbs are challenging with over 2,100 feet of elevation gain, most of it coming in the second half of the course. I did not envy the 50k runners who had 6,800 feet of difficult climbing. Combined with the heat and humidity on this day, a fast pace was relative. I also managed to have shin splints and a huge blister on the sole of my foot, likely due to hammering the uneven downhill surface on the first part. Oh well, it’s tough to predict what will happen on the trails, but I think these issues had a lot to do with not running any hills recently.

My favorite part was hanging out at the finish and chatting with runners and volunteers under the towering redwoods. Joel Lanz was first in 25k (2:08:27) with Gary Gellin close behind (2:09:04). Jon Olsen won the super challenging 50k (5:03) with Will Gotthardt in second place (5:23). Congratulations to all the runners and thanks PCTR and volunteers!